Home / Drug alert / IT IS IN CAMEROUN WITH NAFDAC NUMBER…IT CAN BE HERE TOO, HELP YOURSELF!!!

IT IS IN CAMEROUN WITH NAFDAC NUMBER…IT CAN BE HERE TOO, HELP YOURSELF!!!

Falsified batches of Coartem recently circulating in Cameroon
Coartem is a fixed dose Artemesinin based combination therapy (ACT) (Artemether 20mg and Lumefantrine 120mg), used for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The genuine product is manufactured by Novartis and is a WHO pre-qualified medicine.
On 5 November 2013, Novartis informed WHO of further falsified versions of Coartem recently circulating in Cameroon.
Suspect medical products
Batch Number: NOF 2153
Manufacturing Date 01.2013
Expiry Date: 11. 2015
Batch Number F2929
Manufacturing Date: 01.2012
Expiry Date: 01.2016
The packaging of both batches is in English and bears the falsified green leaf logo of the Global Fund
Affordable Medicines Facility – Malaria (AMFm) programme.
The details of the falsified batches of Coartem circulated by WHO in May 2013 are as follows.
Batch number: F1901
Manufacturing Date: 01.2012
Expiry Date: 01.2014The packaging is in English and bears a falsified stamp of the Nigerian National Medicines Regulatory Agency, NAFDAC. Batch Number: F2261 Manufacturing Date: 01.2012 Expiry Date: 01.2014

The packaging is in English and bears the falsified green leaf logo of the Affordable Medicines Facility –
Malaria (AMFm) programme. Novartis has informed WHO that this batch has also been seen again
recently in Cameroon.
All four batches are packaged for adult use and for distribution within the public sector. The
falsified batches contain little or no active pharmaceutical ingredient and are therefore ineffective.
Advice
Some of these batches of falsified Coartem have been found in a number of West and Central
African countries, both in hospitals and street markets. Increased vigilance throughout the region
is strongly advised for these batches. Coartem should only be obtained from trusted, reliable and
established legal sources. Hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies should check their stocks for these
batches and report any suspicions to their national medicines regulatory authority